Obama Pitches Road Spending, Tax Incentives In Ohio
Reuters reports: “President Barack Obama will push billions of dollars in new business tax incentives and spending on big construction projects on Wednesday, as he tries to convince a balky Congress to pass measures intended to spur the economy and create jobs. Obama will travel to Ohio to tout programs that include accelerating $200 billion in business tax write-offs, which the White House says would eventually cost just $30 billion, an infrastructure spending boost of at least $50 billion, and increasing and permanently extending a tax credit for research and development costing $100 billion over 10 years. Obama’s speech is expected to be strongly political and it comes less than two months before congressional elections when his Democrats face the threat of big losses.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:45 a.m. ET. Obama will depart from the White House at 12:05 p.m. ET, and depart from Andrews Air Force Base at 12:20 p.m. ET, arriving at 1:30 p.m. ET in Cleveland, Ohio. He will deliver remarks on the economy at 2:10 p.m. ET, at Cuyahoga Community College West Campus in Parma, Ohio. He will depart from Cleveland at 3:50 p.m. ET, arriving back at Andrews Air Force Base at 5 p.m. ET, and at the White House at 5:15 p.m. ET. He will meet with senior advisers at 5:20 p.m. ET.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden hosted a breakfast meeting at the Naval Observatory with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at 8 a.m. ET. He will attend President Obama’s morning briefing at 9:45 a.m. ET. He will meet at 10:30 a.m. ET with Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM). Later, he will travel to New York City to appear on The Colbert Report. He will return to Washington in the evening.
Obama Against A Compromise On Extension Of Bush Tax Cuts
The New York Times reports: “President Obama on Wednesday will make clear that he opposes any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies. Mr. Obama’s opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many Congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue and ends speculation that the White House might be open to an extension.”
Boehner Urges 2-Year Tax Rate Freeze
Reuters reports: “House of Representatives Republican leader John Boehner called on Wednesday for a two-year freeze on all current U.S. tax rates, including Bush-era tax cuts for the rich set to expire at the end of this year. Speaking ahead of an economic address set for later in the day by President Barack Obama, Boehner also proposed that the U.S. government cut spending for next year to 2008 levels — before federal corporate bailouts and Obama’s $814 billion economic stimulus plan. Boehner’s call for a freeze on tax rates amounts to a compromise with Obama in advance of November 2 congressional elections, which are expected to result in big Republican gains in the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.”
Dem Base Told: Fear Tea Party
The Hill reports: “Democrats desperate to convince their base to show up at the polls in November have begun talking less about issues and more about the possibility of a ‘Tea Party Congress’ next year…’These are not your run-of-the-mill Republicans we’re talking about here,’ said one Democratic organizer working in a state with a contested Senate race this fall. ‘When you actually start telling voters what these candidates are about, it scares the hell out of them.’”
State Gains Would Give Redistricting Edge to GOP
The New York Times reports: “The midterm elections are being closely watched to determine whether Republicans will have a majority in Congress for the next two years. But it is the outcome of a lower-profile battle over state legislatures that could strengthen the Republican Party for a decade. Republicans are within reach of gaining control of eight or more chambers in state legislatures this fall, according to interviews with Republicans, Democrats and independent political analysts. That would give Republicans the power to draw more Congressional districts in their favor, since the expected gains come just as many legislatures will play a major role in the once-a-decade process of redrawing the boundaries of those districts.”
Business Leaders Say Obama’s Economic Policies Stifle Growth
The Washington Post reports: “The chairman of the Business Roundtable, an association of top corporate executives that has been President Obama’s closest ally in the business community, accused the president and Democratic lawmakers Tuesday of creating an ‘increasingly hostile environment for investment and job creation.’ Ivan G. Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications, said that Democrats in Washington are pursuing tax increases, policy changes and regulatory actions that together threaten to dampen economic growth and ‘harm our ability…to grow private-sector jobs in the U.S. ‘In our judgment, we have reached a point where the negative effects of these policies are simply too significant to ignore,’ Seidenberg said in a lunchtime speech to the Economic Club of Washington.”
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